Mom died December 5th. She had no will or any legal documentation set up. She was married once (to my father) and divorced and I am her only child, so I would assume being the next of kin pretty much everything would go to me; however, I don't know how to go about properly handling most of her final affairs.
I've done some searching around and found bare bones of what I need to do. I called Social Security and they said that we did not need to pay back the last social security check, but that I should pull it out before notifying the bank and closing the account. A couple of family members have suggested the same. However, I'm reading that this is considered fraud and would rather stay out of legal trouble. I could certainly use the money - some to put towards her final expenses and to catch up on my own bills, as I had to take FMLA for the last two months of her life in order to take care of her and spend every second possible with her.
Mom had a house but owed roughly $35k on it. Mom turned into a hoarder and had an animal problem, so the house is in very bad shape. In addition, there has been no water in the house for years and there are electrical problems in at least one room - basically for me, I just want to make sure I'm correct in thinking the house isn't worth the hassle. I'm also a full time student and have an apartment of my own, so I couldn't afford to continue mortgage payments anyway.
She has a car, paid in full, I'm currently unsure of the location of the title. God help me if it's in the house. She has one credit card to my knowledge that I need to close. Is there someone I can call to find out if she had any more credit cards open?
I can't think of any other assets or any accounts at present. Am I missing anything? Also, how can I handle all of the above? I did try searching the subreddit but didn't find anything that quite answered my question.
Submitted December 13, 2018 at 06:43PM by CrimsonQuill157 https://ift.tt/2QP9OPS
